Editorial: Weld County proposal another sign of American Balkanization

Posted:
06/10/2013 09:39:15 PM MDT

There's a reason why a word that once described a geographic area now includes the nuanced -- and negative -- meaning of having ever-smaller regions or states that can no longer get along.

Balkanization is named after region of southeast Europe where a large empire was broken down into ever-tinier countries, each with its own agenda, flag -- even religion.

Unfortunately, "Weld" already has a meaning exactly opposite -- where metals coalesce into each other -- because some of its leaders are looking at a fractious future because they don't agree with some of the actions taken by the Colorado General Assembly this year. Last week, three of the county's commissioners announced they would start the process to create a separate state, "North Colorado," by cleaving away the rural northeastern counties from Colorado and apparently forming an enclave where they would not have to live by the whims of those elected from other cities and counties in the state but merely their own.

County leaders talk about the unfair burden of renewable energy laws, even as wind-turbine manufacturer Vestas benefits the Weld County economy from its Vestas plant and as wind generators across the northeast portion of the state pay taxes to local coffers. They worry about the effect of ammunition magazine limits, even though there's no law preventing the numbers or types of guns an individual with no criminal record may own. More counties should worry about the state of their roads and bridges, but the bulk of the money collected to make those fixes comes from urban drivers who will never use them.

Of course, it's pretty apparent where that next step takes us. It's not hard to imagine conflicts among various interests of the new state. Farmers in downstream counties such as Phillips and Sedgwick might have a different feeling about surface wells in Weld County than the upstream property owners. Residents in Greeley might have a much different opinion on how to fund education than those in Peetz.

Would future community leaders build upon the example of their forefathers and continue to chip away at their state, so that the counties on the Platte split from those on the high plains, and then the cities along

U.S. 85 split from points east?

Such an outcome wouldn't be just unwieldy. It would be unWeldly.

Before taxpayer money is wasted on a fool's errand of separation, cooler heads need to come to the table to recognize that Colorado has had regional differences for its entire statehood. The Western Slope, San Luis Valley, Arkansas Valley and even the Front Range cities have had to make compromises with lawmakers from other parts of the state. The "all-or-nothing, we're leaving" does no one favors.

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